For the second time in less than a week, cops in indistinguishable riot gear were caught on video shoving an elderly man to the ground for the ungodly sin of not complying fast enough.
But this time, the 75-year-old man was left bleeding from his ear as he lay motionless on his back on the sidewalk.
Seconds earlier, the man had walked up to a pair of baton-wielding cops wearing helmets, face shields and body armor and stood in front of them, holding what appears to be a phone in his hand. He may or may not have said something to them. He had been protesting.
“Move!” a cop coming up from behind yells , prompting the two cops to shove the man less than a second later, sending him stumbling backwards. How dare him approach the gods without permission.
No longer feeling threatened, the cops continued marching past him to enforce the city’s curfew, setting their sites on a man holding a Black Lives Matter sign, smothering him in a sea of stormtroopers for the crime of staying out too late.
”He’s bleeding out of his ear!” someone says as the cops walks past the man on the sidewalk without batting an eye.
The video was recorded by a reporter from WBFO who was ordered away by a female cop.
“You better get an ambulance for him,” the reporter tells the cops as he walks away, who were showing no indication of helping the man.
“We have an EMT on scene,” the cop responds.
WBFO posted the video on Twitter and YouTube where it went viral, generating criticism from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
The two cops have also been suspended without pay which is a rare step in the right direction. Perhaps the protests are paying off.
But despite all the harsh words from the governor and the mayor, we still do not know the names of the cops which should be the first step in any time of internal investigation.
And despite the heavy military presence which included at least one armored car, Buffalo police only made five arrests for disorderly conduct, according to WGRZ.
In other words, the most serious crime that took place that day was the assault and battery on a senior citizen that was fully documented on video but went unenforced. The man who was taken away in an ambulance was listed in serious but stable condition. His name has not been released.
On Saturday, a Salt Lake City cop in riot gear shoved an elderly man with a cane while television news cameras live streamed to the world.
“Sadly, a man was just knocked off his feet,” the ABC 4 reporter said in her live broadcast.
